TONIGHT: 2 men shot, wounded at Butler Trump rally sit down with NBC News for exclusive interview

BUTLER, Pa. — Three months after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, the two men who were shot and survived are speaking out.

NBC News spoke with Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, on Monday in an exclusive interview. Both men say they believe the Secret Service and law enforcement were negligent.

>> Trump rally gunman spotted by law enforcement nearly 30 minutes before shots fired, sources say

You can watch the full interview on NBC Nightly News-- Monday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 11.

Copenhaver and Dutch told NBC News that they were elated to be at the rally and sitting in the bleachers behind the former president before they were shot. They described the moments during and after the shooting.

“It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest. I knew as soon as I got hit,” Dutch said.

>> Butler Trump rally attendees describe panic as shots rang out during attempted Trump assassination

“When I heard part of my sleeve go away and I heard ‘pshew,’ I mean, I heard it distinctly. And I turned around to my friend and I said, ‘I think I was shot,’ That’s when I got the second. And then I went down. I mean I had no realization of anything except I couldn’t figure out why my shirt left in such a hurry,” Copenhaver said.

Copenhaver was shot in the tricep and abdomen, and Dutch was hit in the liver. Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, was killed.

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